UK, Japan and China ease travel warnings to Israel amid ceasefire with Hezbollah
Foreign Ministry said to view announcements as a positive but unclear what effect they’ll have on airlines, some of which have canceled flights until spring
China, Japan and the UK softened their travel warnings to Israel on Friday, as a fragile ceasefire reached last month after more than a year of fighting with Hezbollah continues to hold.
The UK minimized its travel warning to the borders with Lebanon and Syria, some parts of the West Bank in addition to the Gaza Strip and its border area.
Japan lowered its travel warning from level 3 to level 2.
The Foreign Ministry viewed the announcements as a positive development, according to the Kan public broadcaster, though it was unclear how airlines would respond to the softened restrictions.
British Airways announced in October it was suspending all flights to Israel until March 2025.
The low-cost airline Ryanair is also not planning to renew flights until April 2025, despite negotiations on the matter.
Meanwhile, Aegean Airlines resume flights to Israel, with the Greek carrier saying it will begin with flights from Tel Aviv to Athens and Larnaca and later expand to northern Greece and the Greek islands.
Foreign airlines have repeatedly canceled their flights to and from Israel over the past year amid the war with Hamas in Gaza, tensions with Hezbollah and a pair of missile attacks on Israel by Iran in April and October.
